Boehner excoriates Democrats

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner threw away the niceties that appeared in the wake of his meeting with President Barack Obama, and lambasted Democrats for bringing a bill to the floor that would extend just the lower- and middle-bracket tax rates.

Speaking at a news conference with newly elected governors such as South Carolina’s Nikki Haley and Ohio’s John Kasich, Boehner said Democrats “undercut the conversations we had just yesterday” by hatching a plan to take a bill to the floor Thursday to that extends 97 percent of American’s tax rates.

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“I don’t know what my colleagues across the aisle didn’t hear during the election,” Boehner said Wednesday evening in the Ohio Clock Corridor outside the Senate door. “The American people spoke pretty loudly. They said stop all the looming tax hikes and to cut spending. And while we had a good meeting at the White House yesterday about how to resolve the issue of stopping all of the tax hikes, the House leader is going to go down this path of gerrymandering the process so members only have one option, and that’s to vote on only providing some tax relief for the American people.”

Boehner also accused House Democrats of playing “political games.”

It’s a clear shot across the bow from Boehner to Democrats that Republicans intend to vote against anything but a full extension of the current tax rates. Boehner said he did not know if Democrats would offer Republicans a motion to recommit, which could give the GOP an opportunity to force a vote on extending all tax rates.

Anyway, the issue seems to be a political non-starter, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who was also at the media availability, said that the House Democrats’ proposal is “not going to go anywhere.”

“We’re going to extend the current tax rates, we’re not going to raise taxes on anybody, the only thing we’re discussing now is just how long that extension will be,” McConnell said.